Whoa! That zombie’s fast!
I remember seeing Trainspotting director Danny Boyle’s foray into the zombie genre in theatre back in 2002 . I nearly dropped my popcorn out of shock when the zombies didn’t just amble on mass toward the living flesh, but straight up sprinted at them. 28 Days Later reimagined the genre and gave birth to the raging fast zombies that have cropped up in many zombie entries since. So, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this game changing film that ramped up the genre with fast zombies, we will also be speeding up Nelson’s zombies for this year’s Zombie Walk.
The 400 Metre Zombie Dash is an undead track and field event like no other. Are you a human trying to cross the finish line first (and alive) or are you a zombie whose finish line is a moving target heading for the finish line? Either scenario, you’ll all be racing… or walking, because not all zombies are in a hurry, and there is more than enough time between the starting pistol to traverse Baker Street and back to The Civic Theatre for show start.
As usual, transformations to the undead will be aided by our team of talented make-up artists by donation in The Civic Theatre lobby starting at 1 p.m on Sunday. At 2:30 pm, zombies will then be provided with a pin-on race number before heading over to the ‘track’ on Baker Street where they will sprint, walk or shuffle through the 400-metre course, before heading back to The Civic Theatre for a free community screening of 28 Days Later at 3:30 p.m.
For other Halloween goings on be sure to come around to The Civic Theatre and The Shoebox for screenings of Halloween Ends, Smile, and classic titles from the Reo’s video collection.
While we are talking about the dead, unfortunately the hallowed halls of The Civic Theatre have been on the dead side as of late, and it goes without saying that in order to host our free community events and cater to diverse content on our screens we need those bums in seats. There are numerous reasons for the decline, such as lack of content, comfort to go out socially and, the steeply rising cost to the living.
In that last regard we would like to help the living with an opportunity to see movies on any day of the week at our reduced Tuesday prices. Going forward, as soon as our Friday opening films go live on our website on the Monday afternoon prior (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday), you will have until 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening to purchase any of the week’s screenings playing at The Civic Theatre that are coming Friday to Thursday at our Tuesday pricing — a $4 savings per ticket.
Sprinting with the dead or pacing for the long-jog with the living, come out and participate in keeping our community independent cinema thriving.
Jason Asbell is an amateur speedwalker and professional programming director for The Civic and Shoebox Theatres.